Favorite items are often the most treasured. I enjoy indulging in a favorite dish, taking time to savor every last scrumptious crumb. Favorite songs can be looped for hours, never growing weary while I sing every last note and riff as though I were the artist. The clothes that are my favorite to wear make me smile each time I put them on because I believe they look fantastic on me.
It’s easy for things to be favored. You decide on how little or how much energy to invest in them. They never insult you or grate on your last nerve. Our favorite things never exhaust us or toy with our emotions. Life is grand when we’re surrounded with our favorite things.
All that I’ve described have had one commonality—they are things. Inanimate objects.
There are days I wish it were as easy to love living creatures—my fellow humans. Our favorite people have not risen to the top of the list randomly. We hesitate to invest energy in each other. First, we weigh the potential benefits to see if it’s worth the hassle. It’s risky to take a step and be kind to someone, because they may not reciprocate. People can—and do—hurl insults. Yes, we can even grate on nerves, intentionally. It’s unhealthy to hang onto unbalanced relationships; they can hurt us in many ways.
Have you ever tried to confront deeply-rooted hatred from people who are unwilling to change? I had a social media acquaintance who labelled Blacks as ‘animals’. I gently asked them how this fit their Christian mission, and after a second thought, they recanted. Yet, a few weeks down the road, again there was more vitriol from the same source, as inner thoughts about Black people as ‘animals’ plus other derogatory words, were exposed.
These moments are my least favorite. It’s tempting to interchange moments for people. Without realizing it, some people fail to make it on our list of favorites. Relationships are fractured and broken, as the ripple effect takes place. When really, it’s a few (and in some cases, many!) qualities about a person that are not favorites.
This is unpopular talk—to look beyond a face and into a heart. This is how Jesus treats us and it’s one of my most favorite things about Him.
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{Linking up with the five-minute Friday community}